<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>cryptid hunt, we're gonna catch ourselves a monster! by coldairballoons</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29323239">cryptid hunt, we're gonna catch ourselves a monster!</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/coldairballoons/pseuds/coldairballoons'>coldairballoons</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Murdoch Mysteries</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cryptids, Inspired by Buzzfeed Unsolved, M/M, Modern Era, Mothman, cryptid hunter au</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 10:20:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>968</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29323239</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/coldairballoons/pseuds/coldairballoons</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>On a trip across the continent, George Crabtree and Henry Higgins travel in search of mysterious creatures.</p><p>Title from "Cryptid Hunt" from Averno!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>George Crabtree &amp; Henry Higgins, George Crabtree/Henry Higgins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>cryptid hunt, we're gonna catch ourselves a monster!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I've had this AU in my mind for literal months, no one @ me, I'm thinking about Them. Let them find cryptids together please and thank you!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Mothman is real,” George insisted, and as he flopped the roadmap into his lap, looking through the front window. “He </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span>, there’s so much proof out there, just you wait until we get there, Henry-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Henry rolled his eyes and suddenly pushed down on the accelerator, leading George’s sentence to trail off into a cry of panic. “Higgins!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry!” He wasn’t. “I… zoned out!” He didn’t. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With a huff, George turned back to face out the side window, tracking the trees with a finger. It all seemed to fly past, driving through the cities and towns into the countryside, and Henry was silently glad that </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> was the one driving on this trip. He’d feigned carsickness to get to drive, which had turned into a reality when they were driving up from Texas, George insisting.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Toronto to San Antonio, Texas, then back up again, trying to hit all the famous sites of cryptid sightings in the United States. The trip was George’s idea, and he was happily chatting beside Henry as they drove. Already, they’d driven to Fresno, Roswell, and dropped by Denton to check out the demon bridge that George hadn’t shut up about, and now were driving through the countryside to get to their next destination--Point Pleasant, West Virginia. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So,” Higgins took a turn, just a bit too sharp, and George’s face was smushed up against the window. He let out a muffled curse. “Sorry again, what… exactly </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> mothman?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am so glad you asked.” George turned to him with a grin, face-smushing entirely forgotten, and momentarily, Henry was glad they were on this road trip together. Just the two of them, jobs and stress of city life forgotten, Murdoch and Brackenreid finally off their tails… well, until George’s phone rang in his pocket. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Henry’s partner--work and friendship only, of course, totally--cursed and grabbed it, sliding his finger across the screen to answer. “Hullo?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi, George, sorry to bother-” Higgins tuned out the detective, focusing instead on the road ahead. This was their vacation, and while George wasn’t nervously biting at his lip like he sometimes did when there was a new case or a problem back home, it didn’t stop his… jealousy--he realized with a start that he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>jealous</span>
  </em>
  <span> of George’s relationship with Murdoch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sun gleamed over the horizon as George and Murdoch chatted on the phone for a minute, the former finally signing off with a, “Good night, sir, and tell Dr. Ogden and Mr. Pendrick that I say hello!” Higgins breathed a sigh of relief, fingers finally untensing from the wheel. “What was that about?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, nothing much, just some confusion. Apparently, someone stopped by the station house with a package for me, and I wasn’t quite sure who it would be, because I haven’t really been </span>
  <em>
    <span>talking</span>
  </em>
  <span> to other people that much since we started planning, but then-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George was about to launch into another tangent of a story, but something caught Henry’s eye in the sun, and he shielded them, swerving to avoid what looked to be a large hawk swooping down towards the car. Only, it wasn’t a hawk, as George shouted, eyes wide. “Moth!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Moth?!” Higgins shouted back, swerving to get back on the road, and looked back over his shoulder to see a giant black shape disappearing into the fading twilight. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Man!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Holy fuck!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Go!” Crabtree yelled, pointing back at it, and grabbed his phone, ready to take as many pictures as possible, and Henry spun the car in a tight U-shape, before speeding to chase after it. It seemed to soar through the sky impossibly fast, and Higgins couldn’t keep up, but George was recording on his phone and trying to take pictures with Henry’s phone and one of them was bound to turn out well…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then the thing disappeared into the night. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Henry slowed the car to a slow, steady drive, and pulled to the side of the road, entirely out of breath. His partner seemed the same, laughing breathlessly as he stopped recording, then turned the camera on the phone to take a selfie of the two of them. Higgins was a mess--he grimaced as he looked into the camera, but he was smiling with the biggest smile he’d smiled in a long time. Both of their faces were flushed, and George’s hair was a wreck, but they were happy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>God, and Henry was happy as he turned to fact George, laughing uncontrollably. “Did we seriously just-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We just chased the mothman.” George finished his sentence for him, and Henry nodded. “We just chased the </span>
  <em>
    <span>mothman</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Henry Higgins!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“George Crabtree and Henry Higgins: Cryptid hunters extraordinaire.” Higgins held up his hands as though reading off of a billboard or poster. George seemed to catch on quickly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Henry Higgins and George Crabtree: Paranormal investigators.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“George Crabtree and Hen-” Before he could finish his sentence, Henry was pulled into a tight hug, one that seemed to squeeze the breath out of his lungs and replace it with pure joy. He was sure that when he opened his mouth to speak again, his voice would be high and squeaky, breathless. George pulled back, a dopey grin on his lips. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We did it.” He whispered, and Henry nodded, leaning back. </span>
  <span></span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“We </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Henry smiled, and looked out to the horizon, the faded indigo starting to peek up on the horizon as the sun set behind them. Who knew what creatures were out there, waiting for them to discover?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now,” Henry put the car into drive, pulling onto the road. “Where to now, Cryptid Hunter Crabtree?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George kicked his feet up onto the dashboard, propping a map against his knees. For a moment, he stared at the map, then pointed behind them, into the setting sun. “Onwards, Cryptid Hunter Higgins.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>As always, find me at @coldairballoons, @locallemony and @bisexualwilliammurdoch on Tumblr!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>